Wednesday, 9 August 2017

North Korea: Trump blusters and Pyongyang replies

North
Korea Responds To Trump Threat, Says It Is "Seriously
Considering" Pre-Emptive Nuclear Strike On Guam

If
Trump thought that his bluff would be sufficient to finally shut up
North Korea, and put an end to Kim's provocative behavior, well...
bluff called because North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency
reported moments ago that not only did N.Korea escalate the tensions
up another notch, but explicitly warned that it could carry out
a "pre-emptive
operation once the US shows signs of provocation", and
that it is "seriously
considering a strategy to strike Guam with mid-to-long range
missiles."

Story
highlights from Reuters:

N.
KOREA WARNS OF OPERATION ON SIGNS OF U.S. PROVOCATION: KCNA

N.
KOREA SAYS U.S. WAR HYSTERIA TO BRING MISERABLE END: KCNA

N.
KOREA CAN STRIKE BEFORE ANY U.S. PRE-EMPTIVE ATTACK: KCNA

N.KOREA
SAYS IT COULD CARRY OUT PRE-EMPTIVE OPERATION ONCE U.S. SHOWS SIGNS
OF PROVOCATION -KCNA CITING MILITARY SPOKESMAN

N.KOREA
SAYS STRIKE ON GUAM WILL BE CARRIED OUT IN A CONSECUTIVE, SUCCESSIVE
WAY ONCE LEADER KIM JONG UN GIVES ORDER

And
the full report:

U.S
Should be Prudent under Present Acute Situation: Spokesman For KPA
Strategic Force

Pyongyang,
August 9 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Strategic Force of the Korean
People's Army (KPA) released the following statement on August 8:

Recently,
the U.S. test-fired ICBM Minuteman-3 at its Vandenberg Air Force Base
in Califrnia State targeting the DPRK, the fourth one this year,
openly staged an actual nuclear strike drill targeting the strategic
objects of the DPRK by mobilizing its nuclear strategic bombers
formation stationed at its Anderson Air Force Base on Guam in the
Pacific. It is driving the regional situation to an extreme pitch by
bringing various kinds of nuclear strategic hardware before the very
eyes of the DPRK. The
Strategic Force of the KPA has taken special note of such maneuvers.

Such
military maneuvers of the U.S. may
provoke a dangerous conflict under the present extremely acute
situation prevailing on the Korean peninsula.

Typically,
the nuclear strategic bombers from Guam frequent the sky above south
Korea to openly stage actual war drills and muscle-flexing in a bid
to strike the strategic bases of the DPRK. This grave situation
requires the KPA to closely watch Guam, the outpost and beachhead for
invading the DPRK, and necessarily take practical actions of
significance to neutralize it.

In
the morning of August 8 the air pirates of Guam again appeared in the
sky above south Korea to stage a mad-cap drill simulating an actual
war.

Supreme
Commander of the revolutionary forces of the DPRK Kim Jong Un,
estimating the nature of the military action taken by the U.S. forces
in the Asia-Pacific region, once recommended examination of a
powerful and effective action plan for containing the U.S.
imperialists' aggression hardware as the U.S. forces are resorting to
inappropriate and reckless military actions in the sensitive area,
while going on the rampage in the waters off the Korean peninsula and
the Pacific waters.

The
KPA Strategic Force is now carefully examining the operational plan
for making an enveloping fire at the areas around Guam with
medium-to-long-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 in order
to contain the U.S. major military bases on Guam including the
Anderson Air Force Base in which the U.S. strategic bombers, which
get on the nerves of the DPRK and threaten and blackmail it through
their frequent visits to the sky above south Korea, are stationed and
to send a serious warning signal to the U.S.

It
should immediately stop
its reckless military provocation against the state of the DPRK so
that the latter would not be forced to make an unavoidable military
choice.

The
plan is to be soon reported to the Supreme Command soon after going
through full examination and completion and will be put into practice
in a multi-concurrent and consecutive way any moment once Kim Jong
Un, supreme commander of the nuclear force of the DPRK, makes a
decision.

The
execution of this plan will offer an occasion for the Yankees to be
the first to experience the might of the strategic weapons of the
DPRK closest.

Explicitly
speaking again, the strategic weapons which the DPRK manufactured at
the cost of blood and sweat, risking everything, are not a
bargaining thing for getting acknowledgement from others and
for bartering for anything, but they serve as substantial military
means for resolutely countering the U.S. political and economic
pressure and military threat as what has been observed now.

Will
only the U.S. have option called "preventive war" as is
claimed by it?

It
is a daydream for the U.S. to think that its mainland is an
invulnerable Heavenly kingdom.

The
U.S. should clearly face up to the fact that the ballistic rockets of
the Strategic Force of the KPA are now on constant standby, facing
the Pacific Ocean and pay deep attention to their azimuth angle for
launch.

It
should make a proper option so as not to regret today in the future.

Incidentally,
here is a 1999 interview courtesy of @NorthmanTrader,
laying out Donald Trump's thoughts on launching a pre-emptive strike
on North Korea.

On
the American Territory of Guam in the western Pacific, is Task Force
Talon, the world’s only deployed and active THAAD battery site.
This is the world’s newest missile defense capability that can
intercept missiles in lower space and in the upper atmosphere with
its extremely powerful, long range X-Band radar that defends U.S.
soil and American citizens in Guam against North Korean ballistic
missiles. Equally important, Task Force Talon projects U.S. strategic
air power into Asia through B-52 bombers deployed at Anderson Air
Force Base and a U.S. submarine navy port as well as the largest
American fuel and munitions depot in the Pacific. Last month, the
B-52 squadron from Guam was used in power projecting flights over the
internationally disputed artificial Chinese islands in the South
China Sea. This squadron has also flown over the DMZ in warning
to North Korea in the past. Task Force Talon in Guam remains
indispensable not only for American power projection, but also
delivering extended deterrence for U.S. allies in the Asia Pacific
region.

Donald
Trump and North Korean media are equally famous for dramatic
rhetoric, but today, Donald Trump has upped the stakes saying the
following when asked by a reporter to respond to North Korea’s
latest statements about the United States.

Trump
said that Pyongyang “best not make any more threats to the US”.

He
added that further North Korean threats,“will
be met with fire & fury — and frankly power — the likes of
which the world has never seen before”.

North
Korea has not yet commented, but likely will within the next day.